A pleasant surprise on Friday the thirteenth is always welcomed. In the case of the team at Deft Brewing Company that’s especially true. After waiting two weeks for approval of a utility fix at its project site, that blessing was issued by San Diego Gas and Electric this morning. And with that, they are able to open the doors to their brand-new tasting room and serve up their stock of varied European-inspired liquid offerings.
Deft Brewing is located at 5328 Banks Street in the Bay Park/Morena area of San Diego Proper. The brewing modus operandi is to celebrate Old World styles, including some that are harder to come by in San Diego County. A touch of New World is sprinkled in here and there in the form of American hops and such. The opening beer-list is as follows:
DeftHopt Golden, English India Pale Ale (6.5% alcohol-by-volume)- DeftHopt Red, Red IPA (6.5%)
- Bruxelles Trip, Belgian-style Tripel (9%)
- Rhein Sonnenshein, Kolsch-style Ale (5%)
- Deft & Witty, Belgian-style Witbier (5%)
- Day of the Deft, Stout (5.5%)
- Shanagarry Summer, Irish-style Red Ale (4%)
- Dussel-deft Secret, Sticke Altbier (7.5%)
Deft’s brewery and tasting room are housed in the hull of a former boat-building facility with a high, pointed ceiling that will allow ownership to replace the current two-barrel setup with an eventual 10-barrel brewhouse and fermenters to match. Right now, the team is working to dial in its beers and make sure it is speaking to the desires of customers—particularly those in the Bay Park neighborhood—before ramping up production. The tasting room juxtaposes red bar stools against a mostly neutral color pallet featuring a main bar and rail bars made from live-edge wood procured from next-door neighbors, Made Lumber Supply, and reclaimed wood slats from Deft co-owner Morris Nuspl‘s backyard fence. Mostly windowed walls let in plenty of natural light and give a view of an outdoor space that is very close to being converted into a patio with al fresco seating.